crown of thorns

crown of thorns
    n 1: any affliction that causes great suffering; "that is his
         cross to bear"; "he bears his afflictions like a crown of
         thorns" [syn: {cross}, {crown of thorns}]
    2: somewhat climbing bushy spurge of Madagascar having long
       woody spiny stems with few leaves and flowers with scarlet
       bracts [syn: {crown of thorns}, {Christ thorn}, {Christ
       plant}, {Euphorbia milii}]
    3: a mock crown made of thorn branches that Roman soldiers
       placed on Jesus before the Crucifixion
    

Crown of thorns
our Lord was crowned with a, in mockery by the Romans (Matt.
27:29). The object of Pilate's guard in doing this was probably
to insult, and not specially to inflict pain. There is nothing
to show that the shrub thus used was, as has been supposed, the
spina Christi, which could have been easily woven into a wreath.
It was probably the thorny nabk, which grew abundantly round
about Jerusalem, and whose flexible, pliant, and round branches
could easily be platted into the form of a crown. (See THORN
�T0003642, 3.)